Family's Always There
by AryaTyrell
Summary: "Gabe didn't get into a fight. He's... he's been bullied."


**This just kind of to me when I was watching Good Luck Charlie the other day. I was just sitting there, and then I thought, 'Oh my gosh. Let's beat up Gabe! ^.^' **

**Okay. Maybe not that happy to beat up my favorite character, but it's a great idea, yes? **

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><p>Gabe retreated into himself. He went deeper and deeper until the painful kicks to his stomach and sides were barely processed as a dull throb. He let the hurtful words be thrown at him, one after the other. Gabe knew he shouldn't cry, but whenever this happened, he unwillingly allowed the tears find their way down his face.<p>

Gabe hated bullies.

And of all the people he struggled to impress, there was Jack Dylan: the hardest to please, with the hardest kick.

Gabe bit his lip to fight the urge to cry out as an especially hard blow connected with his ribs. He doubled over and fell onto the ground, gasping for breath. That's when he made his first mistake: just for that second, he listened to what Jack had to say.

"So here's the infamous Duncan. I heard their family had more kids than they can afford. Tell me, Gabe, doesn't your family sleep in, uh, one room?" As his cronies laughed, Jack added, "Did you think your family ever wanted you? That Teddy and PJ would want a loser for a brother?" Then Gabe made a second mistake- he believed them.

Something grabbed his left wrist. Gabe looked up and saw Jack, brandishing a shiny, silver switchblade. Gabe's eyes widened. "No," he whispered. "Don't!"

But no force on Earth could prevent Jack from what he was going to do. The cold metal of the blade sunk into Gabe's wrist, and slid across it. The coppery scent of blood filled the air, and scarlet drops oozed out of the wound. This time, Gabe didn't hold back- he screamed in agony, tears now flooding his face. The blade was ripping open the cuts that hadn't even come close to healed yet, ripping open his skin. Again and again, the blade cut across the surface of his skin, each time becoming more and more bloodier.

Gabe's vision blackened around the edges.

"Hey!" A voice called behind Jack. It was small and squeaky, but there was a hint of command and anger in it. There was a soft thump on the ground; a bag had dropped.

Jack stopped his tortuous act and turned. "What're you doing here?" he sneered to the intruder.

"Leave him alone! What's Gabe ever done to you?" the voice asked, acid filling every word. The intruder shoved Jack, though the person was much smaller than him. "I'm not scared of you. Beat it," the voice ordered him. Jack hovered for a few seconds, then finally muttered something to his friends. Then they finally slouched away.

"Gabe! Are you okay?" the voice asked, now full of concern. Gabe had the vague sense of someone kneeling next to him. "Don't die on me, stupid!"

Gabe, who was on his side with his head on his arm, could barely make out who was in front of him. Long, curly brown hair. Big brown eyes. And the use of the word 'stupid'... "Jo?" he asked weakly.

"Hey, stupid," she said, but she was smiling despite the situation. "How you feeling?" Then, before he could answer, "Stupid thing to say, sorry. Here, I've got some bandages in my bag..." As she got up to get them, Gabe grabbed the back of her shirt.

"Please- don't leave me!"

"I'll only be a few seconds," Jo coaxed him, and he let go. When she came back she was holding a small box of the healing aids. "See? Five seconds." She wrapped them around his wrist, which was now covered in scarlet splotches of blood.

"So... wait. How did you even know I was here?" Gabe asked her.

"Well, I was walking down to CVS so I could use the Redbox there, and I just heard... a scream. I thought it was my imagination, so I kept walking. Then I heard it again, and... I just followed the sound," she explained.

"Well... thanks," Gabe said, getting up.

"Hey. No one beats up Gabe Duncan except _me._"

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><p><em>I fell, I fell, I fell,<em> Gabe thought twenty minutes later as he fumbled down the stairs to the basement, wanting to stick to his alibi like glue. Teddy and PJ were already down there, popcorn popped and _Harry Potter_ primed- they had been planning to have a marathon before they saw the final movie.

"Hey, Gabe, we're just getting..." Teddy started, but stopped when she saw Gabe. He could feel the atmosphere shift from light and fun to tense and heavy. "Oh my God, Gabe, what happened?"

"I just fell," Gabe said automatically. Teddy got up and came close to him, examining his black eye and cuts on his face. She didn't even see the yellowing bruises covering the rest of his body, but she still gasped in shock.

"PJ, come here!" Teddy said.

"If I have to go back to Blockbuster and get a movie I forgot again, I swear I will... Whoa, Gabe! Did you get in a fight or something?" he said, changing tack when he saw Gabe.

_Or something,_ Gabe thought.

"You know, Gabe, you've been clumsier than PJ lately," Teddy mused, ignoring the offended look on PJ's face. "Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell us?"

"Guys, I only fell down some stairs! You're acting like I'm getting beaten up or something!" Gabe tried to smile but it came out lopsided, and he was met with hard stares.

"Just like you fell down some stairs yesterday?" PJ asked skeptically. Noticing the bandages on Gabe's wrist he took it in his hands. Gabe shied away, despite PJ's touch being gentle on his aching limb. PJ frowned. "Who did this?"

"Why are you guys suddenly worried about this now?" Gabe asked. "I don't even get why you're all worked up about it! You've never had problems with me being clumsy before!"

"Except," Teddy said, "You're _not _clumsy. So what are you hiding?"

"Nothing!" he said.

"Is it Jack?" PJ said, and Gabe backed away, but they moved in closer.

"It's no one!"

"Is it George?" Teddy wondered.

"No!"

"Is it Jo?" PJ asked.

"Of course not!"

"Then who is it?"

"No one!"

"Who?"

"Who?"

Gabe shut his eyes in a weak defense against their pelting questions. They had backed him in a corner, and he felt weak and defenseless, just like he did with Jack and so many others. Then he finally broke. "EVERYONE!" he yelped. "There isn't one person at that school who likes me. Not... not even you guys." He let the tears flow- there was nothing he could really do it about it now.

"Aw, Gabe, why would you think we don't like you?" Teddy asked, putting a hand lightly on his shoulder.

"He told me you didn't-"

"_Who?_" PJ asked, dying to pound someone for hurting his brother.

"They all do. It's like... without you guys, I can't walk down a hallway without people tripping me, laughing at me, saying you don't like me." He said the last part very quietly.

"Gabe, you know we like you though, right?" PJ asked, and Gabe's eyes fell to the floor.

"It's just... I'm... I'm not sure anymore."

The siblings sat in a stunned silence following this statement. How could Gabe, their little brother, be put through something so tortuous? He was just a kid! And even though he irritated Teddy and got PJ in trouble on almost a daily basis, he was still _their_ Gabe! He was their Gabe, the one who'd managed to score enough cash to pay off their dad's major bill for ruining a client's wall during work. He was their Gabe, the one who annoyed Mrs. Dabny enough times to send her on a "vacation" (the rest of the Duncans believed she had moved away). So Teddy said, "Gabe Duncan, don't you ever say that! We're family, and we always stick together. And nothing is going to change that. Okay? So whoever told you that we don't like you... is an idiot. So why should you listen to them?"

"I don't know..."

"Wait, do mom and dad know?" PJ asked.

"Well, no..." Gabe admitted.

"What! Why not?"

"Because Jack would know that I squealed on him, and he would make everything a thousand times worse!" Gabe pleaded. "Just- please don't tell them!"

Before Teddy could answer, thumps sounded from upstairs. "Teddy? Where are you?" called Amy's voice. _Speak of the devil, _Teddy thought.

"We're down here, mom!" Teddy yelled up the stairs. Gabe shot her a pleading glance. Teddy shook her head. _Sorry, kid. _

"Oh, good, I was just wondering if you could...oh... my... GOD!" Amy dropped everything she was holding (which included two jars of baby food) "Gabe, what happened?" Amy asked, voice rising three octaves. "Did you get in a fight at school?"

"Okay, mom, it's not what it looks like-" Gabe said, scampering away.

"I see you with a black eye and cuts all over your face, so I think it's what it looks like!" Amy shrieked, half angry and half concerned.

"No, no, no, no, mom, wait." Teddy launched herself in between Gabe and her mother. "Deep breath. Happy place," she soothed her mother. "Mom, Gabe hasn't been in a fight. He's- he's been bullied," Teddy said the last part very fast.

Amy blinked. "What? Gabe, is this true?"

"Yeah, mom. It is," Gabe's eyes shot to the floor again.

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have stopped it right- what's wrong with your arm?" Amy suddenly asked.

"Um, nothing," Gabe hid that arm behind his back.

"Gabe Duncan, give me that arm."

Gabe, who couldn't withstand his mother's commanding voice any better than his dad, gave in and held his arm out.

"Oh, Gabe, what happened?" Amy said, taking the bandaged wrist in her hands.

"After school today, they... they... cut my wrist," Gabe said, and he broke down. "I-if Jo d-didn't get inv-volved then I'd- I'd still b-be there."

"Aw, Gabe," Amy said, pulling him into a hug. This time he wasn't even embarassed. Soon PJ and Teddy had joined into a big, Duncan family group hug.

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><p>"You loser!" Gabe braced himself for Anthony Goldberg's fist, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see that PJ and Teddy were holding the senior back, and Jo was there to lead him away from the scene. Yup. Family was always there.<p>

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><p><strong>Agh. Corny ending alert! Oh well. I do enjoy those. Well, you know the drill. Review! Or PM me. Whatever you want. <strong>


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